Dear Evan Hansen

The Novel

** INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER **USA TODAY BESTSELLERWSJ BESTSELLERINDIE BOUND BESTSELLER From the show's creators comes the groundbreaking novel inspired by the hit Broadway show Dear Evan Hansen. Dear Evan Hansen, Today's going to be an amazing day and here's why...When a letter that was never meant to be seen by anyone draws high school senior Evan Hansen into a family's grief over the loss of their son, he is given the chance of a lifetime: to belong. He just has to stick to a lie he never meant to tell, that the notoriously troubled Connor Murphy was his secret best friend.Suddenly, Evan isn't invisible anymore—even to the girl of his dreams. And Connor Murphy's parents, with their beautiful home on the other side of town, have taken him in like he was their own, desperate to know more about their enigmatic son from his closest friend. As Evan gets pulled deeper into their swirl of anger, regret, and confusion, he knows that what he's doing can't be right, but if he's helping people, how wrong can it be? No longer tangled in his once-incapacitating anxiety, this new Evan has a purpose. And a website. He's confident. He's a viral phenomenon. Every day is amazing. Until everything is in danger of unraveling and he comes face to face with his greatest obstacle: himself.A simple lie leads to complicated truths in this big-hearted coming-of-age story of grief, authenticity and the struggle to belong in an age of instant connectivity and profound isolation.

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A Must-Read Young Adult pick. Inspired by the hit Broadway show. A simple lie leads to complicated truths in this big-hearted coming-of-age story of grief, authenticity, and the struggle to belong in an age of instant connectivity and profound isolation.

(This review is spoiler free and mostly compares the book to the muscial)

Dear Evan Hansen's novel was sooo different from the musical, but in a good way. Overall, i relaly enjoyed the book and though I knew the story, I couldn't put it down. There was so much new content and Evan's narration really captured me. The book doesn't do any damage to the stage version, but actually makes it better.

When comparing the two, the book expands more on Connor and who he was. There is even mention of Connor having a friend and how they used to interact, showing us that he wasn't the scary and rebellious teen everyone saw him as. It really helped convey how all the characters are misunderstood at some point, just like how we are in real life. Sadly the novel didn't do the same for the main character. In both the musical and the book, the Evan Hansen was still underdeveloped. Evan's personality showed in the way he narrated the story and through his jokes and thinking, but not enough. It still seemed like his anxiety overpowered who he really is. I am guessing that maybe it's written like that on purpose, to describe how hard it is for him? I'm not sure, but I wish we had more insight on Evan.

Besides Evan's character, the novel gave more insight on his motivations and thought process, whereas in the musical, it's hard for the actor to portray it. For example, the origin of his lie at the Murphys' house. What was really cool was seeing Evan's interpretation of the cast and the Connor Project. There is so much emotion that he be seen on stage, but directly described with words.

One last thing that I loved about the novel was how inclusive and close the dialogue was to the show's script. Most movie/novel adaptations don't do that, ruining the original. The Dear Evan Hansen novel actually expanded the original story, not damaging what was previously written. Lyrics from "Only Us" and "To Break in a Glove" were in it and it didn't feel awkward or odd. The rhyme was taken away and the words given a new context, helping the story.

This book is great, but also different from the original musical. I have no doubt that lovers of Pasek and Paul's original creation will love this too. If you haven't checked out the musical, then I think you'd love it as well. It's a story for all of us, one that tells a tale of belonging.

I loved the idea of incorporating Connor's perspective to the story, but to me, it felt rushed and undeveloped. Additionally, I felt [new character that I will leave anonymous]'s relationship with Connor and Evan could have been much more and interestingly developed. In general, a great idea, but it could have been executed slightly better.

There is no doubt that the message of "Dear Evan Hansen" has value as it reminds today's teenagers that they matter. This was an pretty good read, but it was a bit tortuous to watch the needle move to the point of overheating. From the first it was obvious that Evan was on a collision course with the truth. It took so long to get there. I also found the bits with the voice of Connor to be a bit disjointed and disorganized. Usually I find the book to be better than the show, but in this case the show came first and the book seems to be playing second fiddle.